Is this Brewers team in danger of being the worst in franchise history?
Recently a friend of mine asked, “Is there a possibility that this year’s Brewers’ team could be the worst in team history?
Well, when you are 20 games under .500 and have one of the worst records in the majors, there is bound to be talk about just how bad the team is and how it compares to previous teams. To answer the question, let’s look at some numbers.
As of Friday, August 14, the Brewers are 48-68, a .414 winning percentage. If the season ended today, that would be tied for the fifth worst winning percentage in franchise history. The worst season was in 2002 when the team was 56-106 (a .346 winning percentage). The Brewers would have to finish 7-39 to reach that level of futility.
Here’s a look at the five worst winning percentages in the Brewers franchise history.
Season, Record, winning percentage
2002: 56-106 .346
1969: 64-98-1 .395 (as the Seattle Pilots)
1970: 65-97-1 .401
1976: 66-95 .410
1977: 67-95 .414
There is hope, however, and it comes in the form of what other teams have experienced. One quick example: In 2013, the Houston Astros were 51-111 (a .315 winning percentage). It was their worst season in team history. Less than two years later, the Astros are 62-53 and leading the American League West.
Let’s take a look at the year that each of the current 30 franchises had their worst season (via winning percentage).
Arizona: 2004
Atlanta: 1935 (as the Boston Braves). As the Atlanta Braves: 1988
Baltimore: 1939 (as the St. Louis Browns) As the Baltimore Orioles: 1988
Boston: 1932
Chicago Cubs: 1962 and 1966
Chicago White Sox: 1932
Cincinnati: 1934
Cleveland: 1914
Colorado: 2012
Detroit: 2003
Houston: 2013
Kansas City: 2005
L.A. Angels: 1980
L.A. Dodgers: 1905 (as the Brooklyn Superbas). As the L.A. Dodgers: 1992
Miami: 1998
Milwaukee: 2002
Minnesota: 1904 (as the Washington Senators) as the Minnesota Twins: 1982
N.Y. Mets: 1962
N.Y. Yankees: 1919 (as the N.Y. Highlanders)
Oakland: 1916 (as the Philadelphia A’s) As the Oakland A’s: 1979
Philadelphia: 1942
Pittsburgh: 1952
San Diego: 1969
San Francisco: 1902 (as the N.Y. Giants) As the San Francisco Giants: 1985
Seattle: 1978
St. Louis: 1903
Tampa Bay: 2002
Texas: 1963 (as the Washington senators) As the Texas Rangers: 1972
Toronto: 1979
Washington: 1969 (as the Montreal Expos) As the Washington Nationals: 2009
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Packers Preview: Stats you need to know… The Team (Part One)
Over the next weeks until the 2015 NFL season starts on September 10, I will be posting some stats from my book, “250 Stats Every Packers Fan Needs to Know.” It is now available in ebook form through Amazon and Barnes and Noble; cost is $9.99. Printed copies should be available in a couple of weeks.
68 The Packers in 2014 fell four points short of setting the team record for most points scored at Lambeau Field in a regular season. They ended the 2014 season with 318 points at home, an average of 39.8 points per game. The team record is 321 points scored by the 2011 Packers. The 2014 Packers became the fourth team in NFL history to score 300 or more points at home in a season, joining the 2011 New Orleans Saints (329 points), the 2011 Packers (321 points) and the 2013 Denver Broncos (316 points).
71 The last time the Packers lost three straight games in a season was 2008. Only the New England Patriots have a longer stretch of avoiding a three-game losing streak in a season… they have not lost three in a row in a season since 2002.
77 With touchdowns by rookie wide receiver Davante Adams and fellow first-year player tight end Richard Rodgers in 2014, the Packers have had at least one rookie score a TD every season since 2004.
87 The Packers are 128-70-1 (.646) on Sundays since 2000; they are 23-18 (.561) in non-Sunday games this century.
93 The Packers are one of seven teams that have a .650 winning percentage or better in games after their bye week. The NFL went to a bye week format in 1990; since that year, the Pack is 17-9 in games after the bye (.654 winning percentage). The other six teams with a .650 or better winning percentage in games after the bye week since 1990: Baltimore, Denver, Chicago, Dallas, Minnesota and Philadelphia. It’s interesting to note that the Packers seem to play a little better after the bye week depending on when they had that bye. Case in point: Green Bay is 4-5 in games after the bye if their bye was in Weeks 3-6; if, however, their bye was in weeks 7-10, the Packers are 13-4. Here are the Packers win-loss records in games after the bye based on the week they had their bye.
Bye Week, Next Game Record
Week #3: 0-1
Week #4: 2-0
Week #5: 1-1
Week #6: 1-3
Week #7: 4-2
Week #8: 5-2
Week #9: 2-0
Week #10: 2-0
100 Here’s a handful of stats regarding offensive drives in the 2014 season that you may find interesting…
* The Packers had 26 drives of 10 plays or more in the 2014 season, scoring on 22 of them (85%). They scored 11 TDs, 11 field goals, turned the ball over on downs three times, and had one pass intercepted in those 10-plus play drives.
* Green Bay was the only team to score on 50% (rounded off from 49.7%) of their drives in 2014; the Pack scored 79 times in 159 drives.
* The Packers punted on only 31% of their drives, lowest percentage in the league.
* Green Bay had 159 drives in their 16 regular season games in ’14, fewest drives in the NFL.
* The Pack started 82 drives at their 20 or inside their own 20. They eventually scored on 36 of those drives (445), the highest percentage in the league. New England was second with 37%.
* In their first drives of the 16 regular season games in 2014, the Packers had six TDs, punted five times, kicked two field goals, fumbled twice, and turned the ball over on downs once. They were one of five teams in 2014 to score on at least half of their first drives (San Francisco did it in nine games; the Packers. Eagles, Broncos and Redskins each scored on their first drive in eight of their 16 contests).
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Are we headed for a ‘same-state’ World Series in 2015?
Could we see a Missouri World Series in 2015?
If you opened up this morning’s paper and glanced at the baseball standings, you discovered something very interesting. Did you see that two teams from the same city are leading their divisions (the Yankees and Mets), two teams from the same state are leading their respective divisions (Missouri’s Royals and Cardinals), and while the Dodgers sit atop the N.L. West, their in-state rivals, the Angels, are just a couple games behind the Astros in the A.L. West race?
What does all this mean? Not only could we see a World Series with two teams from the same state, but for the first time in MLB history there could be three pairs of teams from three states winning the six divisions.
In 1994, baseball went to a three-division format in each of the two leagues. Since then, teams from the same state have won a division title in the same year several times. Considering that there are five teams from California, it’s not surprising that several of those pairs have been west coast teams. Here’s a look at the other state pairs that have won divisions title in the same year since 1969 when MLB went from two leagues to two divisions in each league.
(New York) New York Yankees and New York Mets: 2006
(Missouri) Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals: 1985
(Illinois) Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox: 2008
(Ohio) Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds: 1995
(California) Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers (2004, 2008, 2009, 2014)
(California) Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Dodgers (1974, 1988, 2013)
(California) Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants (1971, 1989, 2000, 2003, 2012)
(California) Oakland A’s and San Diego Padres (2006)
(California) Los Angeles Angels and San Diego Padres (2005)
In addition, there are two pairs from the same state that have never won a division title in the same year: Florida’s Tampa Bay and Miami franchises, and the Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco Giants from California.
There have been 20 times when two teams from the same state (and in many cases, the same city) have faced each other in the World Series. The last time it happened was in 2002 when the San Francisco Giants faced off against the Anaheim Angels. The current 12-year drought of not having two teams from the same state play each other in the World Series is the fourth longest in MLB history. The longest drought was from 1956 to 1974, 17 years.
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Packers Preview: Stats you need to know… The Players
Over the next weeks until the 2015 NFL season starts on September 10, I will be posting some stats from my book, “250 Stats Every Packers Fan Needs to Know.” It is now available in ebook form through Amazon and Barnes and Noble; cost is $9.99. Printed copies should be available in a couple of weeks.
3 Did you know that fullback John Kuhn is one of only three offensive players since 1966 to have 20 or more career TDs with less than 1,200 career yards from scrimmage? Kuhn has 21 TDs and 1,107 yards from scrimmage in his nine-year career (eight years with the Packers). The others on the list: Roman Gabriel (24 TDs, 990 yards from scrimmage) and Hank Bauer (20 TDs and 474 yards from scrimmage).
7 Did you know that defensive back Sam Shields is one of five active players who has 15 or more career interceptions but has never returned an interception for a TD in his career? The NFL record is 50 interceptions without an interception returned for TD by Don Burroughs, who played in the league from 1955-64. The Packers record is 31 interceptions without a return for TD by Mark Lee. Shields has 15 career interceptions.
18 Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson connected on 13 pass TDs this past season, giving that combo 45 for their Packers careers. The pair is now in second place in Packers history, passing the combination of Brett Favre-to-Sterling Sharpe for the second spot on the list. Favre-to-Antonio Freeman is the most prolific pass combination in Packers history with 57 TDs passes.
25 How important is it for Jordy Nelson to have a big game for the Packers? Consider that the Packers are 19-2 (.905) in games when Nelson has 100 or more yards receiving in a game. There are 20 receivers in Packers history who have three or more games with 100-plus yards receiving. Here are those receivers and the Pack’s record in those games. Player, Games with 100+ yards receiving, Team W/L Pct. in those games
Jordy Nelson, 21… 19-2 .905
Antonio Freeman, 23… 20-3 .870
Boyd Dowler, 17… 13-2-2 .824
Randall Cobb, 11… 9-2 .818
Bill Schroeder, 10… 8-2 .800
James Jones, 9… 7-2 .778
Max McGee, 13… 10-3 .769
Carroll Dale, 15… 11-3-1 .767
John Jefferson, 6… 4-1-1 .750
Greg Jennings, 26… 17-9 .654
Donald Driver, 23… 15-8 .652
Walter Stanley, 5… 3-2 .600
Robert Brooks, 16… 9-7 .563
Sterling Sharpe, 31… 15-16 .484
James Lofton, 33… 14-19 .424
Javon Walker, 8… 3-5 .375
Corey Bradford, 3… 1-2 .333
Ken Payne, 3… 1-2 .333
Paul Coffman, 6… 1-4-1 .250
Jermichael Finley, 4… 1-3 .250
34 Aaron Rodgers had five games in 2014 where his pass completion rate was under 60%. The Packers were 2-3 in those games (losses to Buffalo and Detroit in the regular season and a playoff loss to Seattle; wins over Miami and the Jets). The Packers are 9-16 (.360) in games where Rodgers’ pass completion rate is under 60% in a regular season game; they are 1-2 in playoff games.
55 Did you know that Packers receiver Randall Cobb is among the best in NFL history when it comes to running the ball? Of players who have carried the ball 25 or more times in their career, Cobb has averaged 9.3 yards per carry (27 carries for 252 yards). That ranks fifth all-time. Louis Lipps has the best yards per carry average in NFL history with 13.9. Cobb is one of only seven players in NFL history with a per carry average over nine yards. Cobb obviously leads the Packers in that category with his 9.3 average. Ranking second is James Lofton (7.9 yards per carry), followed by Donald Driver (6.4 yards per carry) and Joe Francis (6.1 yards per carry).
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